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Tampa General Hospital is working to improve health care access in rural Palm Beach County communities

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Through a series of strategic partnerships, Tampa General Hospital continues to expand access to world-class care and transform health care delivery through innovation and technology. The latest announcement aligns closely with Senate President Ben Albritton’s priority of sparking a Rural Renaissance in the Sunshine State.

Tampa General Hospital and the Health Care District of Palm Beach County reached an agreement earlier this year for Tampa General to provide administrative leadership, operational management and strategic support for Lakeside Medical Center, the Health Care District’s public teaching hospital in Belle Glade.

“With this agreement, we’re extending the strategic, operational and clinical expertise we offer at Tampa General to support the leadership, providers and teams at Lakeside Medical Center and expand access to world-class care in the Glades,” said John Couris, President and CEO of Tampa General Hospital. “It’s the best of both worlds — high quality care close to home.”

Florida’s rural areas, like most other states across the nation, have historically experienced a lack of access to high-quality health care. While the state of Florida has made strides to close the gap, there is still more work to be done. Studies have shown that rural communities experience a 40% higher preventable hospitalization rate and a 23% higher mortality rate compared to urban communities.

Lakeside Medical Center, which opened in Belle Glade in 2009, is run by the Palm Beach County Health District. The District’s Board of Commissioners approved a Management and Administrative Services Agreement during an open session on Dec. 11 after hearing a presentation from Tampa General leadership. Effective Feb. 1, Tampa General will work with Lakeside Medical Center to enhance quality of care, strengthen clinical training, recruitment and retention, and improve financial status.

“This strategic partnership combines the strengths of both organizations to advance access to high-quality health care for underserved populations,” said Darcy J. Davis, Health Care District of Palm Beach County President and CEO. “By joining forces with Tampa General, the health and wellness of our Glades communities will prosper for generations.”

Tampa General appointed Ron Doncaster vice president of business operations and integration at Lakeside Medical Center. In this role, Doncaster will oversee operations, facilitate service integration, supervise personnel and offer recommendations for innovative programming and expansion opportunities.

Doncaster takes on this role with decades of experience in health care leadership and administration, having managed operations at some of the nation’s most prestigious health care systems, including Mass General Brigham. Most recently, he served as Interim Chief Operating Officer at Tampa General, overseeing all clinical and operational strategies and managing partnerships with key constituents.

“Our No. 1 goal is to meet the needs of the community,” Doncaster said. “With improved delivery models and expanded access to specialists, we can elevate the level of care available in the community without losing the personal service only a local hospital can provide.”

Couris, Davis and Doncaster, along with Stacey Brandt, executive vice president and chief administrative officer at Tampa General, participated in a town hall last week with the team at Lakeside to outline their joint vision for Lakeside and answer questions.

Belle Glade residents have responded with overwhelming support for the strategic partnership. “It’ll be a game-changer for this community,” resident Connie Boldin Jr., told CBS 12 in West Palm Beach.

Under the agreement, the Health Care District of Palm Beach County maintains ownership of the hospital and its assets. The agreement does not impact the rights or obligations of Health Care District employees assigned to Lakeside Medical Center.

Tampa General’s work with Lakeside Medical Center marks an expansion of Tampa General’s existing network of providers and services in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast, which already includes primary care, cancer care, digestive health, kidney care, radiation, oncology and general surgery.

Tampa General is one of the largest and most innovative academic health systems in the nation. The system features more than 150 care locations across the Sunshine State. TGH is ranked No. 2 in Florida and a top 50 hospital nationally by U.S. News & World Report.


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Senate bill that could lead to execution of would-be political assassins begins to move

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March 18, 2025

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The bill was inspired by the violence at a Donald Trump rally in Pennsylvania.

Those looking to harm Presidents, Governors and other heads of state may pay the ultimate price in Florida — even if they don’t succeed in killing their target.

Sen. Blaise Ingoglia’s measure (SB 776) which cleared the Criminal Justice Committee, contemplates adding to Florida law that the death sentence can be issued when a “capital felony was committed against the head of a state, including, but not limited to, the President or the Vice President of the United States or the Governor of this or another state, or in an attempt to commit such crime a capital felony was committed against another individual.”

Ingoglia noted that “the death penalty is reserved for those convicted of heinous crimes” and that his helps to facilitate that by adding aggravating factors of an assassination of a head of state or the killing of another person in attempting to do so. He described the attempted assassination of Donald Trump and the concomitant killing of Corey Comperatore as heinous and worthy of extraordinary sanction in law.

One citizen opposed the bill.

Grace Hannah of Floridians Opposed to the Death Penalty said the bill would fall under federal jurisdiction and that an incident like that contemplated by the bill is “extremely rare.”

The bill is also moving in the House.

Jeff Holcomb’s legislation (HB 653) has one stop to go before the floor.


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Linda McMahon says school choice expansion is ‘a continuing process,’ but will be up to states

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March 18, 2025

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Education Secretary Linda McMahon says she and her boss in the White House are both “strong proponents” of school choice, but the federal government’s role in expanding it will be limited under President Donald Trump.

“It’s a continuing process” that must be pursued at the state level, not mandated by Washington, she said.

“The rub is that teacher unions say it’s going to bankrupt the public schools (and serve only students with no other options). I think we’re clearly proving that is not the case.”

McMahon’s comments came Tuesday afternoon during a roundtable discussion on education at the Kendall campus of True North Classical Academy, a charter network operating in Miami-Dade’s unincorporated Kendall neighborhood. It was one of multiple school visits she had planned in the county that day.

Other roundtable participants included, among others, Interim Florida International University President and immediate past Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez, Miami Dade College President Madeline Pumariega, Miami-Dade School Board member Monical Colucci, former state Rep. Michael Bileca, charter school magnate Fernando Zuleta, and former Collier County School Board member Erika Donalds, a pro-charter education activist whose husband, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, is the presumptive GOP front-runner in the 2026 Governor’s race.

Zuleta, the founder and President of for-profit charter school management company Academica, said that while Florida has been a leader on school choice, many places in the U.S. remain “choice deserts.”

He urged McMahon to look into the matter. McMahon nodded while he spoke, but made no commitment to do so.

While the U.S. Department of Education’s (USDOE) role in implementing school choice policies will be limited, Donalds hinted that the agency isn’t taking a passive stance on the matter. She said people should “be on the lookout” in the coming days for federal guidance on further empowering parents.

McMahon, a 76-year-old former professional wrestling promoter, past Administrator of the Small Business Administration and ex-member of the Connecticut State Board of Education, reiterated that she has a “mandate” from Trump to abolish the USDOE. Last week, the Department announced it was cutting its staff from some 4,100 employees to 2,200.

That was a “first step” toward fulfilling the President’s wishes of shutting down the agency, she said. She referred to the layoffs as “trimming.”

McMahon said she’s tasking the remaining staff at USDOE staff with assembling a set of guiding principles from which state and local governments can take cues.

“We really want to leave best practice in place to provide states with the right tools,” she said, adding that if she is indeed America’s last Education Secretary, “I will have been successful at my job.”


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Derelict vessel bill requiring increased registration sails through second committee

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1 hour ago

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March 18, 2025

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The proposals would stipulate long-term anchoring permits issued by FWC.

Owners of boats adrift in Florida waters will have to be more careful about keeping their vessels moored if a bill moving through the Senate floor gets approved.

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment and General Government gave preliminary approval to legislation (SB 164) that calls for increasing regulations on vessels. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Anna Maria Rodriguez, a Doral Republican, would require new registrations for long-term anchoring of vessels through the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

The bill proposes “requiring the commission to issue, at no cost, a permit for the long-term anchoring of a vessel which includes specified information; requiring the commission to use an electronic application and permitting system; requiring that a vessel subject to a specified number of violations within a 24-month period which result in certain dispositions be declared a public nuisance, etc.”

The bill has one more stop before the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee. There is also a companion bill (HB 1149) moving through the House. Rep. Fabian Basabe, a Miami Beach Republican, is sponsoring that measure, which still needs to navigate its first stop, the House Natural Resources and Disasters Subcommittee.

Derelict vessels have long been the bane of many local waterways. Along the Intracoastal Waterway or any one of hundreds of tributaries that run through the state, errant boats can go adrift and be found aground.

Some municipalities have already taken matters into their own hands. Indian River County, for instance, has a derelict vessel removal program that partners with the FWC to get those boats out of the way and allows residents to report such disabled watercraft.

And municipalities within that county have gotten increasingly aggressive about removing derelict boats, in cities such as Vero Beach and Indian River Shores.

The Senate measure also intends that those boat owners whose vessels go adrift during storms or natural disasters round up those vessels afterward. The FWC issued multiple advisories about derelict vessels in the Fall of 2024 due to hurricanes.


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